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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

You're being given the chance to do something musical that's outside your comfort zone. You're being offered coaching by someone who may be coming from a quite different direction than you expect. And this is a request from your employer.

Are you going to run scared? Or are you going to be a "can do" person?

Wombat. Frank advice is one thing, but saying Carlos is "running scared" if he chooses to pass on this is way over the top IMO. Perhaps you will show us your hastily prepared pop combo's debut performance in front of 500 or your colleages and bosses? We are all dying to see that "can do" in action.

You're being given the chance to do something musical that's outside your comfort zone. You're being offered coaching by someone who may be coming from a quite different direction than you expect. And this is a request from your employer.

Are you going to run scared? Or are you going to be a "can do" person?

Wombat. Frank advice is one thing, but saying Carlos is "running scared" if he chooses to pass on this is way over the top IMO. Perhaps you will show us your hastily prepared pop combo's debut performance in front of 500 or your colleages and bosses? We are all dying to see that "can do" in action.

They're not being thrown in sink-or-swim. Support and training is being provided. The instigator is a musician. If it doesn't come together, competent people will recognise it, and make the decision whether to go ahead.

This is a definite "have a try" situation. Loads to gain, nothing to lose.

This is a definite "have a try" situation. Loads to gain, nothing to lose.

Maybe it is my pessimistic nature showing, but I see lots to lose, very little to gain. If the performance goes okay, the pianist will tend to get little credit. Only if the pianist mucks up badly will he be noticed with a band and singer.

The training, is two or three rehearsals. That isn't very much for amateur musicians and a singer that have never performed together. Certainly, pros are used to that quick cycle, and the director/coach may be used to that level of professionalism and may get frustrated by amateurs.

You are assuming they will pull the plug if it doesn't seem to be coming together, but we don't know. We don't know what the equipment will be like, the sound person, the piano. Will the piano be in tune or a piece of dreck, or perhaps an unfamiliar digital rig?

What about the other musicians? The singer? Are they all hobbyists? If everyone is a hobbyist that's a recipe for a lot of stress and a lot of mistakes. Other mixes aren't that much better, if the pianist is the strongest or weakest musician in the group that isn't a great recipe either.

If musicians aren't used to performing with a singer and a band, there is tons to learn, that experienced musicians and pros take for granted. Two or three short rehearsals by amateurs that have never played together is unlikely to be enough.

A lot gets assumed by others. When someone sees me with my whistle, they expect me to be able to play certain tunes at a certain level, and are disappointed and even quizzical when I can't. Band musicians are used to other band mates being able to do certain things quickly.

For example, a singer says take it up a step, that's too low for me, and an experienced accompanist will do so immediately without hesitation. For a pianist that never plays with live singers, transposing an unfamiliar piece on the fly is a near impossible task. That's just one example.

While ExaltedWombat might want to give it a go in the same situation, I would vote nay just like Carlos did (and I tend to be a peacock in terms of wanting to perform in public). I would not see it as running scared, but more of a practical and reasonable decision where there is no right or wrong answer.

Oh dear, how negative! Yes, loads of things could go wrong. But, unlike a TV talent show, you're not being set up to fail and be ridiculed. There may be BIG points to be scored with the employer. Employers like team workers with a can-do attitude.

I have to agree with the nay sayers on the group performance. It sounds hastily put together at best with a lot of unknowns. CarlosCC, I think saying no is a good decision. Even for a seasoned performer this sounds problematic.

Farmgirl- It sounds like your new teacher is already very helpful. That is great! I had the same experience when I changed to my new teacher as well. A different approach can sometimes open the door to progress. It sounds like you have quite the challenging list of pieces to work on!

pg2- It sounds like you are having fun with your teacher as well. I cannot imagine learning two instruments at once. Keep us posted on viola progress.

Toastie- I am glad to hear that you had a much calmer lesson and are feeling good about your progress. Being able to relax in lessons really makes a difference.

I am without lessons for another two weeks (teacher vacation), and I really miss it. I am plugging away at Bach and Chopin. This week I discovered I could easily reach the three note 9th's in the nocturne, which was a surprise. 9th's used to be a stretch. I also figured out how to play a 10th in the LH. I have relatively small hands so I never thought I would have that kind of stretch. So, I guess my flexibility has improved.

Sand Tiger, Toastie, E. Wombat, JimF and SwissMS.Some words on your comments:HR person is a kind person and he didn't push us to do that. It's clear and understood by everyone that this is a proposal, so we can say "yes" or "no". He explained that there may be risks, so we are "free" to take our decision (he did not put us any ultimatum)... As everyone is a hobbyist, I think 2 or 3 rehearsals it's not enough to do a proper work. We don't know anything about the instruments or the technical people. We don't know nothing about each other as musicians...

E. Wombat, I understand what you mean, but I'm not "running scared" and I've nothing to gain. Why? I explain.First, my musical objective is not to perform to an audience of +600 people. Now, that means 0 (zero) to me.

Second. Music is, for me, an intimate activity which supposes that I have pleasure doing it. In adition, when I play to "public" I fell that I'm giving something to others. And that's because I'm full engaged with the music I'm playing.

Third, It means nothing to me to have a TV Superstar, or someone else, guiding me when we don't have any connection or similar musical preferences.

So, this event does not full fill any of my objectives and I was not going to gain anything.

You can think that's weird, but I've much more enthusiasm when I'm preparing a piece to ABF Recital or when I'm recording some pieces to do an audio-CD for my mom's birthday, than entering this show.

Carlos, I would not have done it either. Last year I was approached by one of the VPs in my company to play in a town hall event held in a large hall since we have at least 2,000 + employees in the valley. They wanted to have someone play music (make noise) to fill the waiting time for our CEO to arrive at the location after we exhausted all the agenda items. Boy, was I glad that i did not do it. The CEO did not arrive on time. We had to wait for him more than 45 min. The employees who took the challenge (oldie's songs with guitar and other instruments) wound up playing the same song over and over again. It was painful to listen to them and i bet painful to perform. At least, they were involving the audience by asking them to sing along, clap hands with the music etc. I don't know what I could have done. I would have needed to play whole prelude and fugue from WTC or Chopin etudes to fill up that much time. I cannot imagine to play one piece over and over again..

SwissMS, Carlos and everyone else - thank you for your kind words. Besides changing teachers, it's so nice to have a lesson on Friday. It was killing me to have to go to lessons in the middle of the week - at 3:00 PM Arizona time on Wednesdays. It's 6:00 PM NY time, so I managed to get away with it (meaning most of NY people are already gone or preparing to leave for the day). I work predominantly with NY folks. But I was never able to prepare for the lessons and not in the mood to play. Friday 4:00 PM works much better. I am very excited since today is my lesson:)

FarmGirl, thanks for sharing your story. In addition to all the things that could go wrong, those meetings have always changes in agenda and I had not even thought of that. I loved the term "make noise", very funny! But I don't believe that applies to you. Glad you managed to change the time of your lesson.

SwissMS - I'm happy with your achievement with those 9th. I've small hands too, so I know how important is to get the right movement.

CarlosCC - I'll have to agree with you, much as it would have been fun to do and a great challenge. But I play out a lot, and recently spent 4 months putting together a monthly gig with a singer, and it was a *lot* of work to do to play together (even tho we do in another band) and we never were really quite ready, even tho we got invited back. I agree, more than 2 or 3 practices were needed in order to not be really sloppy, particularly with more than just the 2 of us (we tried that, too). I loved doing it, but it was really not together. I think non-musicians think musicians are magic and can just play anything. But we never really got our transitions right, I'd mess up a modulation while she was changing her capo, she'd come in a beat early during the vamp, or want to put a fancy ending on to which she didn't know the chords and I was supposed to just follow, etc.

Plus, of course, for you it wasn't music that in and of itself was appealing. It was my kind of music, but I would have had to learn those particular songs. Or, as more likely, make up an accompaniment.

Yeah, for me 3 months would have been more like it. And my solo work would have been sadly neglected, as it was for my duo/group gigs.

So while this would have been a fun challenge, I think it would have been more frustrating in this particular instance. Too bad. Had the HR person been able to allow you folks to tweak her idea - maybe only one song with one accompanist, and a series of solos by others to fill out the time, the music for this gig might have been a blast. She had a great idea, just not an idea of what it would take to execute.

I'm sure glad you're in the ABF recitals, tho

Cathy

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CathyPractice like you are the worst; play like you are the best - anonymous

Carlos and others, learning to say no is one of the more difficult things for some people. It doesn't seem like the case for Carlos, as he seems to have a strong sense of self and musical goals.

As for my Week 24, hard to believe it is about six months since the Yamaha NP11 arrived. In some ways I have accomplished so much, and in many ways it feels like I have only progressed a virtually inch. Of course, on piano (and other endeavors) both statements are true.

I again see my friend, Alan DiCenzo, a former concert pianist, perform live. He mostly does his original works. The complexity and layers and dexterity are amazing. One noteworthy piece is one that he dreamed about, the only time he has composed that way. The dream piece is a different style from his others. However, it is very much in the style that his late mom used to write. I've had similar experiences in songwriting.

I see an old TV clip of The Rolling Stones on the Ed Sullivan Show and that motivates me to want to learn Paint It Black. It is a relatively simple tune on the piano. I find a YouTube video. The tutorial has me going past my 61-keys for the first time, with a B-octave chord on the left hand. It also goes a bit too fast for me and doesn't hit every note in the melody line. The YouTube guy also has larger hands so some things that are easy for him are difficult for me. My rendition sounds poor and clumsy, but it is only a few days in.

I work on two new original pieces. Not sure if I will polish them up to the finish. Lucky Penny is more upbeat in rhythm and inspired by lyrics from the 50/90 forum. Secret Rendezvous is inspired by lyrics from The Muses Muse forum, and is in the simple style of last week's piece Simply Beautiful. After spending 14 weeks on Ashokan Farewell, these shorter term projects are a good change of pace.

My achivement was at my lesson this week, where I played all the way throught the 3rd page Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 1st movement; it was quite unexpected we had prevously played up to the 3rd page, but not beyond. While practicing I started to venture into next page and I had a question on how to play the C#- D interval, then we spent the rest of the lesson playing until the end. Now he expects to hear the entire movement next lesson, yikes! better get off piano world and back to my piano as there is so much to work on.

On our analysis thread of this movement we looked briefly at taking the B in measure 8 with the LH. Wayne33yrs was going to show us, but didn't get round to it, a technique for bars 16 and 18 which I expected to be taking both the B in 15 and the C in 16 using LH. Would you mind telling us what technique you now use for this parallel passage?

Ciao tutti! I've been away from home for 5 weeks, so not playing much and not checking in at PW much either.I spent 2 weeks in Canada with my sister and her family, my hubby joined me near the end of that visit, then we met up with his brother and sister-in-law, and enjoyed some time in San Francisco and Napa Valley, then back to Canada to see the rest of the family. It was a very long trip - fun, but it is good to be home!

The week is really not started, so nothing achieved...except that I enjoyed playing after my extended absence!

While I was visiting my sister, I had some wonderful piano time with my 11 year old niece. We managed to play a few duets from her books, and I introduced her to my Rag Time Do-Si-Do piece (Martha Meirs book 1 Rags, Jazz and Blues),(I played the left hand, she played the right,--- LOTS of fun!) I also got to go to her piano lesson. We also shared our favourite pieces with each other, a sort of private recitale 1-1 (with my sister listening in the background) It was wonderful. We also made ravioli .... I am passing on a family tradition! I used to make them with my Italian grandmother, but my sister didn't. I'm the only one in our family who still makes pasta. I hope my niece will continue the tradition.

After that, I had 3 solid weeks away from piano, and then at my cousin's place I tried to play something and had total brain fog! I could not remember a single piece! I was a bit disconcerted by that, but put it down to having been so completely involved in the other things I'd been up to, which is not a bad thing.

I can see there have been a lot of posts in our ATOW thread and I will catch up on my reading soon! I am curious as to what everyone is excited about at this point in time!!

_________________________XVIII-XXXVIIFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Hey Cheryl, I am excited you are back. I enjoyed everyone's post but it was not the same without you. I had lots of excitement, good or bad, in the last six months. Let's see.. I wasn't laid off (phew! it was tough 6 months), reunited with my girl friend / first US piano teacher after 17 years, changed piano teacher and changed church.

It was fabulous to be with my girl friend. I haven't had such sheer satisfaction from just talking from anyone else. I felt like we just parted with each other yesterday. We were talking until 3 am everyday. She has two grand piano, Baldwin and Mason Hamlin. We played (more like she played and I faked) Rachmaninoff, Brahms and Bach. It was great. At the same time, it acutely reminded me that I probably needed to change a teacher to someone like her.

IMHO my piano teacher for the past 4 years is an excellent teacher for children and adults up to 12 years of piano lessons. After that, I think it will be better to change teachers. I learned from her a lot. She helped me fix bad habits and really helped me to get the basic correct. However, the downside is that she does too much hand holding. She put all the fingerings and the expression marks for me. It's fine if you are child but it won't make you an independent pianist. When it was getting too much as my piece got bigger, she started to push me to buy the one's with expression marks even though I have Urtext Henle editions for the same thing. I did not agree with her interpretations at times but I had to go with hers.

My new teacher is my girlfriend's friend who also has DMA. She is an excellent performer as well. We met in the same University (my major was not music) 20+ years ago. I actually took lessons from her for 3 months after my girlfriend moved away to SF area. Why I quit? It's just I got busy with new work, CPA exam, etc etc etc. When I decided to come back second time, I did not think I would ever be able to practice seriously. So I just toss a coin and picked the one closest to my house. At least she has bachelor's in Piano performance. As I said above, it turned out to be much better than I expected. It's just now is the time to move on.

I already see a stark difference with my new teacher. in our first lesson she told me to try to put my own fingering and show her how I would play in the f minor fugue from WTC book II. I had my second lesson and she told me to sight read through the prelude part from the beginning to the end. She told me where she disagreed with my fingerings and interpretations and why. I like the fact we can discuss our approach. Also the expectation is totally different. She asked me if I read through the fugue part. I gasped and said "no". She said "why not" and she would like me to start reading as much as possible. It really forced me to be independent. Before with my old teacher, we did it 3 lines at a time. And I did not need to think about anything. I showed up and she did everything for me. I now have to think about how I want to play. I realized that I kind of like that approach. I don't think I was ready for it 4 years ago but now I feel comfortable doing that. Anyway it's my update. Oh, also I don't need to practice Christmas songs or being on the piano ensemble playing some piece I don't like. I like duet itself but don't like to do it with 20 other people on stage.

I am now caught up with reading all the posts I missed. What a lot of action in a few weeks! Great to hear everyone's updates!

FarmGirl, I'm particularly happy tohear you did not get laid off, and that you have renewed an old friendship AND you've got a new teacher you are so very pleased with!!!!! That's just fantastic.

MaryAnn - it was indeed fun to play with my niece. I was particularly thrilled because last year we couldn't manage to play together ---- neither one of us had enough experience to manage the necessary coordination!This year was a whole new game.

Jim, You made me laugh! I don't think you've been grumpy, but it is always nice to know one has been missed.

It is good to be back!

_________________________XVIII-XXXVIIFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

Welcome back, Cas. You we missed. Five weeks away from your piano is a long time. I bet you are happy to be back on the bench!

Thanks SwissMS, nice to be missed, and yes, I am indeed happy to be back (it wasn't quite 5 weeks away from piano as my sister does have one and I did play most days when I was with her. I just didn't manage to play every day because we were so busy!)

I have been trying to decide what my next piece is going to be. This has entailed some sight reading today to get the feel of various pieces. I am as yet completely undecided. .... but having fun!

_________________________XVIII-XXXVIIFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90

congrats on both your piano and your viola progress, pg2. I've been left to my own devices on the fingering of a Schumann piece (honestly, what was my teacher thinking?!). Predictably, my fingers are in knots, though even with good fingering Schumann has a way of doing that. Unfortunately, my lesson has been postponed twice (once because my teacher lucked out on a last minute opera ticket, the second time, because of the typhoon), so I've been practicing with this fingering and it might be hard to unlearn if she has a better suggestion. We'll see on Friday...

...so I've been practicing with this fingering and it might be hard to unlearn if she has a better suggestion. We'll see on Friday...

My teacher does that too, but when you are figuring out the fingering yourself, that's a learning process too. When your teacher has a better suggestion, you learn these better fingering as well. The more you do it, the more independent you become when learning a new piece.

It is annoying when you have to unlearn fingering you've spent hours practising then spend some more hours learning the new ones!

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I suck and it's ok. I'm playing music and that's all that matters.

Woohoo!! I just learned the final measure of my very first 'real' song!! It only took 4 months of hammering away at it.

Of course that includes the 'weeks' I took off because I was hitting walls.

I never realized how beautiful the last few measures were... I didn't learn it from reading the sheet music as much as I did from 'feeling' what the note progression was. That was a really cool feeling as I was playing it. Now I just need to practice practice practice to get the finger memory going better!

heh... I'm almost too happy to go to bed now.

_________________________

"Music is something so innocent and pure, it makes a person completely naked - in music you cannot lie." - Alice Sara Ott

Carlos....good call on turning down the performance idea from work. I think it sounded like a recipe for disaster.I also see your point on why you play and why having an audience (especially such a large one) isn't what you are looking for.

Irene, that sounds like very satisfying progress on your Beethoven! Good for you!

Pg2, sounds like you are making progress in figuring things out - on two instruments nonetheless! How lovely to be working with the viola as well as the piano. With modern technology you could even play a duet with yourself some day!

MaryAnn, I've had lessons cancelled before, but never because of a typhoon. That sounds unnerving to me. I've yet to play any Schumann so I will have to see how knotty my fingers get some time in the future!

Tubbie, I had to look up Jeux d'eau too. Wow! How long did you have to work to learn that piece? That is quite an accomplishment!

Stryder, you sound justifiably proud of yourself! What an exciting moment. Which piece did you learn? Have you recorded it ? I have found that by recording my pieces I get to really hear the progress I've made over time. You might get some satisfaction out of recording it now, and then again in a few months! Congrats!

_________________________XVIII-XXXVIIFollow your teacher's instructions and practice wisely/much, and you'll soon wonder how you ever found it hard. BobPicklePerformance anxiety: make it part of your daily routine and deal with it...Cope! zrtf90